Reservations

What To Eat

Photo credits to Phil Lees from Flickr, made available under
the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Lorong Selamat Food Stalls

Walking along the street here in Lorong Selamat, you will come across many food stalls where delicious local Penang food is available. It is one spot that you should definitely check out during your trip here in Penang to get your fix of local delicacies.

Travelling here: 7 minutes walk from Sunway Hotel Georgetown

Address: Lorong Selamat, George Town

Opening hours: There is no common opening hour, as it depends on the stall's owners themselves.

Photo credits to Nicholas Chan from Flickr, made
available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0
Generic license.

Pulau Tikus Hawker Centre

One of the things that people have to do when visiting Penang is to try out their local street food, which is unique to the culture as well as incredibly delicious. In the Pulau Tikus Hawker Centre, you can basically get any delicious Penang food.

Photo credits to Drhtgoon from Wikimedia Commons, made
available under the Creative Commons CC0 license.

Gurney Drive Hawker Centre

Gurney Drive is famous for its abundance of hawker stalls, where there are many different varieties of delicacies available. Another thing that distinguishes this spot from other hawker centres is the fact that it has a view of the sea, as it is located by the seaside. It can get quite romantic or relaxing, especially when you are able to witness the sunset while having a meal.

Travelling here:13 minutes by car from Sunway Hotel Georgetown

Address: Persiaran Gurney, George Town, Pulau Pinang

Opening hours: 6:00pm-midnight

Tip: Take good care of your belongings as there might be pickpockets around.

Asam Laksa is a dish of noodles in broth that is both sour and spicy. The broth is essentially a fish broth, but one ingredient that makes the taste distinguishable is the tamarind used to give the broth its sour taste. Several other ingredients are added into the dish, so the broth would have a rich flavour that leaves you salivating for more.

Where to get it: Try looking around hawker centres.

Price: Approximately MYR2.50-MYR5.00

Photo credits to Dreamtrooper from Wikimedia Commons, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Hokkien Mee

Hokkien Mee in Kuala Lumpur and in Penang is different, although they share the same name. In Penang, Hokkien mee refers to prawn mee in KL, where the broth of the dish is made from shrimps and dried prawns, together with meat like pork or chicken. That combination made the soup aromatic and flavourful, and together with a little bit of spices, the broth can also be a little bit spicy.

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centres.

Price: Approximately MYR3.00-MYR5.00

Tip: In some places, pork are used in this dish, thus it isn’t halal. So, make sure to clarify before ordering them.

Photo credits to Charles Haynes from Wikimedia Commons, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Curry Mee

What gives the curry broth of this dish its rich texture is the coconut milk that is used. It is served together with egg noodles (mee) and rice noodles (bihun), together with several toppings that varies, depending on where you are. The spicy broth is the best part of the dish.

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centres.

Price: Approximately MYR3.50-MYR5.00

Photo credits to brown_colour from Wikimedia Commons, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Char Kuey Teow

Char Kuey Teow, a popular dish in the country, especially Penang, is comprised of stir-fried noodles. Rice noodles are stir-fried together with soy sauce, chilli and some other ingredients such as prawns, cockles, bean sprouts, and eggs. But, the ingredients differ according to the place.

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centres.

Price: Approximately MYR4.00-MYR11.50

Tip 1: If you can’t take spicy food, you could always ask them to leave out the chilli, and it would still be delicious.

Tip 2: In some places, pork sausages are used in this dish, thus it isn’t halal. So, make sure to clarify before ordering them.

Photo credits to Denise Soong from Wikimedia Commons, made available
under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Ice Kacang

Ice Kacang is a local dessert in the country, perfect to combat the constant hot weather of Malaysia. Shaved ice is mixed together with sweet syrup and evaporated milk, giving it its sweet taste. Other than that, other ingredients such as red beans, corns, jellies or cendols are also used, though the exact ingredients may differ between places.

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centres.

Price: Approximately MYR3.50-MYR10.00

Photo credits to cegoh from Pixabay, made available under the Creative Commons CC0 license.

Cendol

Cendol is a dessert that is popular in Southeast Asia, perfect for a hot day. The rice flour jelly is served together with shaved ice, coconut milk and gula Melaka. Depending on the places, some other ingredients such as beans or nuts might be added into this satisfying cold dessert!

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centre, or around Keng Kwee street.

Price: Approximately MYR3.00-MYR10.00

Photo credits
to Krista from Flickr, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution
2.0 Generic license.

Rojak

Rojak, when translated from Malay, means mixture. This dish is a local delicacy where fruits and vegetables are mixed and served with shrimp paste and crushed peanuts, and is commonly found in Southeast Asia countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Some stalls might even add other ingredients into it. Basically, you can think of it as a unique fruit salad!

Where to get it: Try looking around the hawker centres

Price: Approximately MYR3.00-MYR14.00

Tip: Beware! As the ingredients used to make the sauce for this dish is a little unique, you might not be used to the taste initially.

Photo credits to Myles Tan from Flickr, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

‘Hipster’ Cafés

‘Hipster’ cafes are the current trend of major cities in Malaysia right now. These cafes are places where you get to enjoy your cup of coffee, together with some pastries or meals, and desserts. The ideas that the owners put into all aspects of the café are unique in their own ways, and it is most evident through the decoration or the architecture of some of these cafes. Penang is no exception to the trend, and it is an especially popular place among the young people of the city.